1967 as documented by the releases of the UK’s most famous source for US rock’n’roll, pop, soul and R&B.
After a lengthy hiatus, just when you had all given up hope of ever seeing another volume, Ace’s chronicling of London American resumes this month with an overview of the label’s output from 1967. It wasn’t our intention to make you wait this long, but a variety of complex licensing issues delayed the release to a point where it might have been easier to release a 1968 volume first. However, we got there in the end, and are delighted to continue the series forthwith, and in the correct chronological order.
By the mid-60s London American was no longer the only UK outlet for the release of hot new US singles, and was not dominating this country’s Top 40 as it had at the start of the decade – but the label still commanded maximum respect among UK record buyers, and was still bringing to our side of the Atlantic some of the best and most interesting 45s that were currently happening in the USA.
1967 was a watershed year in popular music and the eclectically enjoyable nature of previous volumes is upheld by the 28 tracks in our latest compilation, which – just like the US Hot 100 of the time – embraces soul, country, folk-rock, psychedelia, adult contemporary and more besides. There may not have been an enormous amount of London hits in 1967 but the quality of the label’s output was as strong as ever.
Household names – many of them with lengthy London American associations – rub shoulders here with terminally obscure one-record wonders, as they had from the label’s earliest days. All tracks have been mastered from original mono sources, just as they appeared on London, with many coming to you from the original tapes used to manufacture those London 45s.
Copiously annotated and generously illustrated – including a label scan of every featured track – it’s a package that brings many of these tracks to UK CD for the first time, and one that all aficionados of the London American label will be delighted to file next to the previous volumes in this series. It’s a pleasure to maintain the legacy of one of the UK’s foremost imprints for more than a quarter of a century. Hopefully we won’t have to make you wait so long for the 1968 volume, which is already in the works as you read this.
TONY ROUNCE
